ARLINGTON, Texas – Trevor Williams escaped two bases loaded and no-outs while pitching five scoreless innings, four relievers finished Washington’s shutout and Alex Call scored the only run of the game as the Nationals beat the Texas Rangers 1-0 on Wednesday night .
Washington (15-15) recorded its third shutout of the season, all since April 17, and has a chance to get over .500 for the first time since July 1, 2021.
After allowing three consecutive singles to open Texas’ second inning, Williams (3-0) recorded three strikeouts on eight pitches.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Rangers again in the fifth. Williams again got the first throw strong at the plate. He then struck out Adolis García, who entered batting .423 with runners in scoring position, and retired Evan Carter on the pop-up to shallow center.
“Believe it or not, I’ve been there before,” Williams said. “Your thought process is one step at a time. You just trust that, as a pitcher, no matter what happens, you have the advantage.
Call hit a single to left in the second against Andrew Heaney (0-4) to score Ildemaro Vargas, who preceded him with a double off the wall in left center. Call was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Saturday when Joey Gallo was placed on the 10-day injured list.
Derek Law, Dylan Floro and Hunter Harvey followed Williams before Kyle Finnegan struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
The game ended with a three-strike by Corey Seager, his bat flying toward the Texas dugout. Seager, last year’s World Series MVP, is 0-for-4 and 3-for-37 in his last 10 games, dropping his batting average to .227.
The Nats left one on base. Vargas’ double was the only extra-base hit of the game.
It was the defending World Series champion’s second 1-0 loss this season, the other coming against Oakland on April 11, also at home.
García also struck out with runners on first and second to end the seventh.
The Rangers (16-15) went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.
“We just couldn’t get it right and we couldn’t be productive,” Rangers coach Bruce Bochy said. “You won’t see that very often when you create so many opportunities.”
Williams is 3-0 for the first time since 2018, when he finished with a career-high 14 wins for Pittsburgh. He struck out three and walked four.
Williams continued his streak of not allowing a home run this season against a Texas team that had hit multiple home runs in the previous six games. He gave up a career-high 34 homers last season.
Heaney pitched a season-high seven innings, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out nothing and struck out four while losing his first four decisions for the first time in his career.
Texas’ Josh Smith extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a first-inning single.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: OF Victor Robles (strained left hamstring) went 1-for-3 during early rehab for Rochester.
Rangers: There is no date yet for RHP Max Scherzer’s second rehab start after he was scratched on Tuesday with a sore thumb.
NEXT
Thursday’s series finale will pit Nationals rookie LHP Mitchell Parker (2-0, 1.69 ERA) against Rangers RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-2, 3.00).
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